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A review by abrittlebee
The Curse That Binds Us by Katie Hayoz, Katie Hayoz
3.0
I like Katie Hayoz because they always provide a good mystery. The Curse that Binds Us is no different. It is a creepy, parallel plot, devil’s due, supernatural thriller with an intrinsic but sinister puzzle for the reader to pick apart piece by piece. It is scary, but fun. However, some through narratives are definitely more dynamic than others.
I really liked this as a spooky read. It isn’t unnerving in the same way that a psychological thriller is, but neither is it a monster story. If anything I would call it occultish, similar to something more Lovecraftian—where the monster or magical object is rarely ever shown, and the horror is more about how people degrade under the power and ability that catalyst gives.
Admittedly, I did have some trouble with the multiple narrators and timelines. It is not that I found them confusing, but rather that I gravitated to one particular one. Throughout reading The Curse that Binds Us, Eleanor’s story was definitely my favourite. Which was a problem only in that John and Redd’s stories ran simultaneously while Eleanor’s was in the past, so for over half the book I was waiting for my favourite timeline to come back and tell me what was going on. John and Redd were still interesting and enjoyable, however their combined narrative was a lot more slow burn and complicated with emotional teenage baggage, on top of all the supernatural baggage, so it felt bigger and more long-winded.
I did like this and would definitely tell anyone looking for creepy occult horror/Blair Witch vibes to pick this one up.
I really liked this as a spooky read. It isn’t unnerving in the same way that a psychological thriller is, but neither is it a monster story. If anything I would call it occultish, similar to something more Lovecraftian—where the monster or magical object is rarely ever shown, and the horror is more about how people degrade under the power and ability that catalyst gives.
Admittedly, I did have some trouble with the multiple narrators and timelines. It is not that I found them confusing, but rather that I gravitated to one particular one. Throughout reading The Curse that Binds Us, Eleanor’s story was definitely my favourite. Which was a problem only in that John and Redd’s stories ran simultaneously while Eleanor’s was in the past, so for over half the book I was waiting for my favourite timeline to come back and tell me what was going on. John and Redd were still interesting and enjoyable, however their combined narrative was a lot more slow burn and complicated with emotional teenage baggage, on top of all the supernatural baggage, so it felt bigger and more long-winded.
I did like this and would definitely tell anyone looking for creepy occult horror/Blair Witch vibes to pick this one up.